MTECC a Sponsor of Third International Construction Law Conference in Hong Kong
15/12/10 Richard Manly SCOn Sunday 5 December 2010 we attended a half day seminar presented by the American College of Construction Lawyers at the Hong Kong Conference and Entertainment Centre.
The seminar was conducted by way of two panel sessions. The first session was made up of presentations by Robert Smith, an engineer and lawyer, who spoke of his current involvement as a member of the Dispute Board for the ultimate mega project: the Panama Canal expansion.
He was followed by the well known "American" lawyer Doug Jones who delivered a paper entitled "Relationship Contracting in Australia: Partnering, Alliancing, and Other Arrangements"
Colin Wall who has operated as an arbitrator and mediator in Hong Kong for many years spoke on Developments in Mediation Especially in Hong Kong".
The second session was dominated by representatives of "JAMS" (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) and commenced with a delivery by Katherine Hope Gurun, an American lawyer with a long association with Bechtel Corporation and now operating as an arbitrator and mediator. She spoke on the topic of The Bribery Act in the UK.
MTECC members in HK (l to r): Donald Charrett, David Levin QC, Ian Percy, Richard Manly SC and Hugh Foxcroft SC
Philip Bruner, who is a lawyer and the co-author of the 7 volume, 8000 page legal treatise Bruner and O'Connor on Construction Law (which is regarded as the most authoritative work ever written on American law governing construction) spoke on "The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Global Enforcement Collaboration".
Barry Grove, a lawyer and consultant mediator and arbitrator spoke about "Selecting an Arbitral Agency". He is well known in Hong Kong as the author of the Grove Report published in September 1998 which was specially prepared at the request of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region, to specifically consider the allocation and management of risk and to make recommendations on any necessary modifications in the interests of public finance and based on sound international practice. It involved the reviewing and comparing of the provisions of 12 major international construction contracts. The report concluded by recommending changes to the Hong Kong Government's General Conditions of Contract for Construction Works. The report sparked vigorous debate in the region.
Doug Oles, a lawyer, delivered a paper "New Protocols of the College of Commercial Arbitrators" on behalf of dispute resolution academic Professor Thomas Stipanowich from Pepperdine University.
The conference concluded with a double act of Douglas Oles and his law partner Jim Nagle, speaking on "Dealing with Unexpected Site Conditions".
All up, there were about 50 attendees at this seminar, which was followed by an opening cocktail party for the Society of Construction Law Hong Kong Conference in the foyer outside the seminar rooms attended by about 80 people.
On Monday 6 December 2010 the Third International Construction Law Conference, hosted by the Society of Construction Law Hong Kong, commenced and was attended by over 250 delegates. The MTECC sign and a table carrying MTECC brochures and papers was located in one of the rooms off the foyer outside the seminar rooms. All sponsors' tables were similarly located and not very obvious. Nevertheless, most of the displayed items disappeared from the table during the conference.
The Conference was opened by the Chief Justice of Hong Kong, the Honourable Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma, after an introduction by John Cock, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Society of Construction Law, and a traditional dragon dance accompanied by local musicians.
The keynote address was delivered (without any reference to notes) by Lord Justice Rupert Jackson (of "Jackson and Powell on Professional Negligence" fame) in which he wove together themes of the unique role of Hong Kong in developing construction law, dispute resolution mechanisms, his own Civil Litigation Costs Review and the future.
An introduction to the China Construction Industry was provided by local lawyer John Bishop (from Pinsent Masons Beijing office). The session before lunch was entitled "China - Home and Abroad" and was supported by presentations by solicitors from Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, all chaired by Adrian Hughes QC from the UK (39 Essex Street Chambers).
Over lunch Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the Hong Kong SAR Secretary for Development, outlined the 10 largest projects that have commenced or are about to commence in the region and which will occupy about the next 10 years. The estimated construction costs were in the many tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars, and include the 38km Hong Kong - Zhuhau - Macau bridge to be completed in 2015 (estimated to cost around US$5b).
The afternoon session was devoted to "Procurement and Conditions of Contract". The presenters were Phillip Greenham, a well known solicitor from Minter Ellison, Melbourne, Ian Heaphy a solicitor from Dubai, the ubiquitous Doug Jones a solicitor from the Sydney office of Clayton Utz, and Mark Lloyd Williams a solicitor from London. The session was ably chaired by Richard Harding QC of the UK (Keating Chambers).
This was followed by a lively panel discussion with the panelists hailing from Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne (Donald Charrett of MTECC), Hong Kong, Taipei and Sydney.
The closing address was delivered by Richard Wilmot-Smith QC from the UK (39 Essex Street Chambers) who repeated what he said at an earlier conference about shortcomings in the law of negligence.
The conference dinner was held at Top Deck on Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour. The evening was finished off with an opera duet from 2 young singers.
Tuesday 7 December 2010 commenced with opening remarks by Huen Wong JP the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong.
The first session was entitled "Time and Programme Issues". Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC (Atkin Chambers) spoke about "Overview of Issues concerning delay analysis - concurrency" and concentrated on the Scottish Court of Session decision of City Inn Ltd v Shepherd Construction Ltd (2010) CSIH 68
Barry Grove gave a paper entitled "Delay Analysis - Evidence or Advocacy" which was more about the influence lawyers might have on presentation of an argument than the merits of the technical arguments available.
Dr Franco Mastrandrea from Hill International in London also spoke about the City Inn case in his paper entitled "Apportionment in the Evaluation of Construction Delays". The final presenter was local solicitor Gordon Smith (Kennedys, Singapore) who spoke on "Challenges to Liquidated Damages for Delay". The session was chaired by Ian Bailey SC from Sydney.
The session was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Christopher Nunns (FTI Consulting Singapore). The panelists were from Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.
The pre luncheon address was delivered by Sir Anthony Mason, the former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and Non Permanent Judge, Court of Final Appeal Hong Kong. He spoke on the historical development of the law of negligence.
"Dispute Avoidance and Resolution" was the topic for the afternoon session. The seminar session was chaired by Tony Dean, a QS and arbitrator from New Zealand, and the speakers were Philip Bruner "Rapid Resolution ADR - the Future is Now", Dr Robert Gaitskell QC (Keating Chambers) "Strategies for Cost Effective Dispute Resolution", Reza Mohtashami "Investment Treaty Arbitration", and Donald Charrett (MTECC) presented Arent van Wassenaer's paper "The Big Risk Game - Reducing the Chance of Dispute to an Absolute Minimum". Arent van Wassenaer is a partner at Allen & Overy in Amsterdam.
The panel discussion on dispute avoidance and resolution was chaired by Kailash Dabeesingh from Mauritius with panel representatives from Hong Kong and London.
The closing address was provided by the well known Mr Justice Vivian Ramsey, Head Technology and Construction Court, England and Wales.
The two conferences were a great success and most enjoyable for all who were in attendance. The organizers of both events are to be congratulated for composing stimulating programmes and providing interesting presenters. We look forward to seeing everyone in Melbourne in May 2012 for the Fourth International Construction Law conference.